Victim identified, charges laid in fatal hunting incident

A man has been charged with criminal negligence after a hunting companion was fatally shot during a Sunday afternoon deer hunt near Bentley.

Herbert Stanley Meister, 57, of Lacombe appeared in Red Deer provincial court on Tuesday and will return to court on Wednesday. Meister has been charged with criminal negligence by discharging a firearm and causing death and possession of a weapon while prohibited from doing so, said Sylvan Lake RCMP Sgt. Duncan Babchuk.

Philip Moore, 55, of Bentley was shot in the abdomen while he was hunting with three others in a heavily wooded area about 13 km west of Bentley.

It is alleged that one of the hunters mistook Moore, who was 300 metres down a cut line, for a deer and fired two shots with a .308-calibre rifle.

Police and emergency personnel got the call about 4:17 p.m. that a man had been shot.

The man who allegedly fired the gun went to Moore’s side and performed CPR and gave him first aid with instructions from a 911 dispatcher over the phone.

When medical help arrived, they were unable to resuscitate Moore and he was pronounced dead.